1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a light detection device and a light detection system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Interferometers and phase-contrast microscopes are known as instruments used to observe an object and obtain information regarding the object.
Interferometers irradiate an object with coherent monochromatic light from a light source, cause transmitted or reflected light (signal light) and light (reference light) from the light source to interfere with each other, and detect the resultant light. Information regarding the surface profile of the object and the wavefront shape of the incident light is successfully obtained by analyzing an interference pattern resulting from an optical-path difference between the signal light and the reference light. Such interferometers are disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2015-17968, for example.
Phase-contrast microscopes are instruments that convert phase differences in transmitted light due to different refractive indices or thicknesses of portions of an object into brightness changes for observation of the object. Phase-contrast microscopes enable observation of a phase distribution of light that has passed through an object even if the object is transparent. Such phase-contrast microscopes are disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2015-219280, for example.